Star Online Report: Reuters won two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, one for national reporting for stories on U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign of political retribution, and a second for beat reporting for investigations revealing how social-media behemoth Meta META.O knowingly exposed users, including children, to harmful AI chatbots and fraudulent advertisements.
The Washington Post took home the prestigious award for public service for its reporting on the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk’s sweeping cuts to federal agencies. The New York Times won three awards, including the investigative reporting prize for its probes into how Trump, his family and his allies have profited from the presidency.
The national reporting award, shared by Reuters staff, notably Ned Parker,
The investigations examined how Trump has wielded executive power to exact retribution against hundreds of targets; among them federal prosecutors, military leaders, former U.S. officials, law firms, universities and media companies.
The stories chronicled the sweeping tools of government that Trump brought to bear: launching criminal probes against his political foes, stripping security clearances from former national security officials, firing civil servants seen as opposed to his agenda and canceling research funding for universities.
Other reports demonstrated the extent to which Meta profited from illicit advertising. Horwitz and Tham subsequently detailed the critical role played by Chinese companies in this business. Another story revealed Meta’s “global playbook” for defeating effective anti-scam regulations around the world.
For one story, Horwitz created an account registered to a fictitious 14-year-old to show the impact of Meta’s decision to give bots the capacity for romantic role-play with minors. For another piece, he placed experimental ads for bogus get-rich-quick schemes on Facebook and Instagram.
The reporting sparked regulatory probes and litigation around the world and prompted Meta itself to reform key practices. In response to the outcry over the chatbot coverage, Meta immediately revised its AI guidelines to stop letting its bots engage in romantic talk with children.
